LA County Board

12. Creating an Independent Process for Complaints Related to School Law\nEnforcement Services\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisor Mitchell: Instruct County Counsel,\nin collaboration with the Executive Director of the Probation Oversight\nCommission, and in consultation with the Sheriff, Inspector General, the\nExecutive Director of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, the Directors of\nYouth Development and Public Health, through the Office of Violence\nPrevention, and the Superintendent of Schools of the Los Angeles County\nOffice of Education, to report back to the Board in writing in 150 days with a\ndraft ordinance to provide the Probation Oversight Commission (POC) with\nauthority to receive complaints related to school law enforcement services\nprovided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), including\nservices provided by School Resource Deputies (SRDs), as well as any other\nLASD personnel performing any law enforcement functions on campuses within\nschool districts that contract with LASD for SRD services, and assess, triage\nand refer those complaints to LASD and the school districts as appropriate, and\nreport on concerns and trends related to those complaints to the Board, within\nthe limits of State and Federal law, and strictly within the scope of the provision\nof school law enforcement services, the draft ordinance should:\nEstablish a process, independent from LASD, for receiving and referring\ncomplaints by members of the public, including students and/or families,\nas well as a process for receiving public comment and advising on\nsystemic issues raised by LASD personnel and members of the\ncommunity; and\nAmend the POC’s ordinance to allow a POC staff member to act as the\nliaison between LASD and the community for the purpose of receiving\nand referring complaints related to SRD services;\nInstruct County Counsel, in collaboration with the Executive Director of the\nProbation Oversight Commission, and in consultation with the Sheriff, Inspector\nGeneral, Executive Director of the Civilian Oversight Commission, Directors of\nYouth Development and Public Health, through the Office of Violence\nPrevention, and the Superintendent of Schools of the Los Angeles County\nOffice of Education, to report back to the Board in writing in 150 days with draft\npolicies, agreements, including those with school districts, memoranda of\nunderstanding, and any other documents that may be needed to implement the\ndraft ordinance referenced above;\nInstruct County Counsel, in collaboration with the Executive Director of the\nProbation Oversight Commission and the Superintendent of Schools of the Los\nAngeles County Office of Education, and in consultation with the Sheriff,\nInspector General, the Executive Director of the Civilian Oversight Commission,\nthe Director of Public Health, through the Office of Violence Prevention, and the\nDirector of Youth Development, school districts with contracts for SRD services,\nand other relevant stakeholders, to report back to the Board in writing in 150\ndays with draft language for SRD contracts related to the implementation of a\ncomplaint system, including the following provisions:\nA requirement that the POC make every attempt to align with and\naugment existing reporting systems and avoid duplication with existing\ncomplaint processes, including any implemented by school districts or\nLASD; implement a process that mirrors the one currently utilized by the\nOffice of Inspector General for referral of complaints to LASD, to be\nprocessed through LASD’s existing complaint process; and identify and\nshare resources with students and families making complaints;\nA requirement that ensures any appropriate or necessary cooperation\nfrom LASD and school districts that allow and do not hinder the POC to\nimplement its complaint process, including:\nAgreeing to participate in and submit to a POC-created, explicit\nand well-defined process for reporting and tracking of concerns or\ncomplaints related to SRD conduct, where the process should\nseek to align with and augment existing reporting processes,\nincluding provisions for annual notification to all school community\nmembers of complaint procedures that explicitly outlines options\nfor filing a complaint both through the school district, as well as\ndirectly through the POC, inter-agency processes for receiving\nand cross-reporting all complaints and outcomes of investigations\nas allowable by law between school districts, LASD, and POC,\nsteps to ensure non-retaliation for filing of complaints and the use\nof school district communication channels and assets, potentially\nincluding website(s), suggestion boxes, and/or other mechanisms;\nA requirement that school district, LASD, and POC staff develop\nand disseminate, in consultation with the Public Defender and\nAlternate Public Defender, written annual notification materials that\nexplicitly address internal (e.g., District Uniform Complaint\nProcedures) and external (i.e., POC) complaint procedures and\nrelevant contact information, as well as provide information about\nrights that students have when interacting with law enforcement,\nwith the notification to be provided in multiple forms of\ncommunication to ensure the information reaches all students and\nparents or caregivers, potentially including, but not limited to,\nwebsites, e-mail, and text messages, this notification should also\nbe provided in multiple languages; and\nAny necessary authorization or permissions for POC staff and\nCommissioners to attend identified, mutually agreed upon school\nsafety/climate related meetings and events at least twice each\nschool year to provide information to students, parents,\ncaregivers, and school and district staff, as appropriate; and\nInstruct the Executive Director of the Probation Oversight Commission, in\ncollaboration with County Counsel and the Executive Director of the Civilian\nOversight Commission, and in consultation with the Sheriff and other relevant\nstakeholders, to work with the Chair of the Probation Oversight Commission to\nconvene one or more public meetings to present and receive public comment\non the draft ordinance prior to being placed on a Board agenda for\nintroduction, with the Executive Director of the Probation Oversight Commission\nto reach out to, and invite as many stakeholders as possible, including students\nand their families, legal representatives and other advocates, volunteers, staff,\nadministrators, community organizations, and others who work at, or otherwise\nserve, students at schools with SRDs;\nUpon adoption of the ordinance referenced above, instruct the Executive\nDirector of the Probation Oversight Commission, in consultation with the\nExecutive Director of the Youth Commission and other relevant stakeholders, as\nappropriate, to report back to the Board in writing every 180 days, and to the\nSheriff, Civilian Oversight Commission, and school districts that contract for\nSRD services, on complaints including, at minimum, the number of complaints\nsubmitted, a breakdown by types of complaints, stations, and school districts,\nwithout potentially compromising any legally required confidentiality protections\ninvolving a minor or the rights of the employees, a demographic breakdown and\nother statistics that may indicate different types of biases, including racial,\ndisability, immigration status, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,\nintersex, asexual, and other identities, not encompassed and others, and any\nanalysis that may support efforts by the Board, Sheriff, or other County\nDepartments to address service and other issues; and, when feasible, the\nExecutive Director of the Probation Oversight Commission may include in this\nreport data on the resolution or outcomes of complaints, as well as any relevant\nanalysis, and may submit this report, as well as other reports related to\ncomplaints, more frequently for the purpose of timely raising or addressing\nurgent or emerging issues, and the Youth Commission may collaboratively work\nwith the Executive Director of the Probation Oversight Commission on reviewing\nand reporting trends, as allowed by law, through this report; and\nUpon adoption of the ordinance referenced above and approval of the contract\nprovisions, instruct the Executive Director of the Youth Commission to work\ncollaboratively with the Executive Director of the Probation Oversight\nCommission on identifying and implementing youth engagement strategies to\ninform students and their families of the new complaint process. (23-4512)